Historic Note - Week of August 28th
The Livingston Enterprise, August 31, 1889
Cooke City Letter.
MR. EDITOR: Having spent sometime in this camp I take the liberty to write you and tell you something of such things as interest you as well all citizens of Livingston and Park county.
The first and greatest item which everyone in Cooke City is more interested in is “When will we get the railroad?” If that question was settled in positive terms in favor of an early building the camp would at once take on an active appearance and fill up rapidly with people. The railroad company is expending large sums of money in its surveys and we hope to see the dirt flying in the early spring. My private opinion is that they will test the feeling in congress the coming winter, and if they cannot get the boundary of the Park so changed as to allow the building of the road by way of Cinnabar they will build it by way of Stillwater creek and enter the camp at Lake Abundance. The latter route would be much more expensive to grade and somewhat longer, b[ut] its probably the next cheapest route to the Cinnabar route. It would be far the better thing for Cooke if they can succeed in securing the Cinnabar route and so enable the ores of this camp to go to Livingston, where coal and coke are so plenty and water power easily secured.
There are probably more prospectors in the camp this year than ever before. There are some properties quite well worked and will command large prices as soon as transportation is in sight.
Within the last two weeks we have seen quite a number of experienced exerts in the camp and there have been several sales made to eastern parties.
The miners of Cooke City who have struggled here through thick and thin for so many years feel that they deserve better treatment than they have had and hope congress will soften down a little and not allow a little three-cornered piece of utterly worthless land to keep them from securing their rights. That part of the park north of Yellowstone Rim and Soda Butte creek is never visited by tourists and is only a bill of expense to those who are placed to guard the Park grounds.
The extent of the mineral lands in this vicinity is much greater than generally supposed. They extend 40 miles from Cooke City southeasterly to the Stinking water river in Wyoming. May we not hope for and secure your continued efforts and earnest co-operation in securing transportation to our camp.
Cooke City, August 22, ’89. B.
